Washington Evening Journal
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Purcell’s love of cars spans 50 years
By Winona Whitaker, Hometown Current
Jul. 7, 2024 2:17 pm
MARENGO — It’s taken Dennis Purcell a little while, but he’s finally persuaded his son to attend car shows with him.
Purcell, formerly of Benton County, sat near his 1941 Ford convertible and purple 1970 Road Runner on Marengo Avenue in Marengo early Wednesday morning.
Vehicles in the Marengo July 3 Car Show lined Marengo Avenue and East May Street and filled the Iowa Valley Elementary School parking lot and the field beyond.
Purcell has owned his Road Runner seven years and the ’41 Ford more than two years, he said. They replaced a couple of 1933 DeSoto coupes he restored years ago. Purcell and his wife, Ramona, owned the DeSotos for about 16 years
“I’m just a car guy,” said Purcell, who now lives in Cedar Rapids. “I’ve been doing this for 50 years.”
He’s 83 now.
“Cars are like everything else in life,” said Purcell. “They get stale after a while.”
Purcell attends the Marengo July 3 Car Show often, he said. Bringing whatever cars he owns at the time. He’s also taken his cars to shows at Camp Courageous, in Williamsburg and Cedar Rapids and elsewhere in the area.
Now that Purcell has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, he’s passing the Road Runner to his son, Mike. "It’s nice. Really nice,” said Mike of the car. “I’ve grown up with Road Runners and Chargers.
Purple is probably a rare color for the Road Runners, said. Mike. “I’m used to seeing the red, the orange.”
Purcell raised his family on an acreage near Van Horne, and Mike attended Benton Community High School. When Mike was growing up, his dad had owned a variety of cars, including Corvettes, Mike said.
“I’ve had just about anything you could name,” Dennis said. “I’ve worked on cars all my life.”
His son would sometimes help him, but Mike wasn’t as interested in the cars as his father is.
Mike attends shows more often now, especially now that his dad has two cars to show. “It’s nice going to these, seeing the different kinds of cars,” he said.
As the sun rose higher, and the temperature rose with it, Lee Schulte, of Norway, wiped down a 1955 Chevy he’s owned since 1976. “We’ve redone it two or three times,” he said. “It’s my retirement present to myself.
“Back in my generation, everyone had muscle cars,” said Schulte. There weren’t many car shows back then, he said. “Instead of car shows, you’d go to other towns and drag race.”
Schulte had his Chevy at the Williamsburg car show June 30. He thought he’d be too hot and tired to drive to the Belle Plaine care show Wednesday night as some of the other participants did, but he’s planning to take the car to Atkins and Dysart this summer.
Schulte attends about 10 shows a year, he said.
“I’ve always liked the tri-five Chevys,” said Schulte of the ’55, ’56 and ’57 Chevys. Back in the ‘50s, the cars didn’t have some of the amenities drivers enjoy today, such as air conditioning and power steering, but Schulte has added those to his show car.
Schulte doesn’t restrict himself to car shows. Sometimes he takes the car on short trips. He and a few friends recently drove their cars up to Lake Delhi in northern Iowa. They ate lunch at a campground, and people wandered through the parking lot, checking out the cars.
“We kind of had a mini car show,” Schulte said.